Several never seen before photographs of Marilyn Monroe, are being featured in a new exhibit devoted to the legendary actress.

The exhibition titled ‘Picturing Marilyn’, opened on Thursday at the Milk Gallery in New York and is set to run through the weekend.

According to the organisers, it spans Monroe’s life in front of the camera lens, starting with her teenage years, when she was photographed on the beach by Andre De Dienes,

It was timed to coincide with the release of the film ‘My Week with Marilyn,’ which stars Michelle Williams as Monroe.

The exhibit is made up of more than 60 images of the actress, shot by some of the most famous photographers, including her photo shoot with Philippe Halsman for the Life magazine cover when she was 26 years old.

Co-organiser Bert Stern’s photograph of Monroe in a black Dior dress shot for Vogue magazine is the centrepiece of the show.

He also shot Monroe’s final portraits, a series known as “The Last Sitting,” in 1962.

In total Stern shot more than 2,500 images of Monroe, but has released only a few for public viewing.

Among other previously unseen images is a De Dienes shot taken of Monroe when she was 23 in a rare moment, where she was without make-up, the Telegraph reported.

Another picture from 1954, by Bruno Bernard, shows Monroe casually stretched out across rows of movie theatre seats and dressed in head-to-toe white.